This issue includes two case studies on how we are working with both Legal & General and EC Harris to enhance their capability to deliver change, along with news on our latest research project.

Our change expertise lies both in the business arena (e.g., visioning and establishing readiness for change) and the change vehicles employed (portfolios, programmes and projects). We value clarity; we value expertise, and make a positive difference to our clients.

To discuss how we can support you, please call our client services team on 01908 283 600 or email info@citi.co.uk.

This issues cover story is by Louise Worsley, Design Authority at CITI. She looks at the purpose of benefit realisation, or more specifically benefits measurement, and challenges the notion that we just “look-back” to see if we achieved the proposed benefits.

Raising the game is the centre story, from Legal & General – and looks at the training model employed by CITI in this engagement.

To discuss how we can support you in any area of project or programme management please call our client services team on 01908 283 600 or email bdu@citi.co.uk.

Front page story: ‘Are you free?’ One of the most rewarding problems to solve is properly and appropriately resourcing your project portfolio. Not that it is easy, as many factors shape the solution, and it is dynamic, with good current solutions decaying, sometimes quite quickly, into poor ones. Of the many factors to be integrated into a solution this article provides the five ‘must-haves’.

Case study: ‘Leading the way’ Mergers cause enormous organisational change, and that means projects, lots of them. When The Co-operative Financial Services and Britannia Building Society embarked on a 3-year transformational change journey they knew that successful project delivery depended on highly capable project managers working in partnership with knowledgeable project sponsors. Steve Hall, Functional Leader, Delivery and Portfolio Management, CIS tells us how calling on the expertise of CITI helped to make this happen.

Back page story: ‘Demographic time bomb’ The growth of project management as a major management discipline, and the increasing dependence of organisations on projects has resulted in a ticking, demographic ‘time-bomb’. Many highly experienced project managers are approaching retirement, and, without management action, they will take their practical experience and their ability to manage ‘difficult’ projects with them.

To discuss how we can support you in any area of project or programme management please call our client services team on 01908 283 600 or email bdu@citi.co.uk.

Finding the right balance: “Show me your portfolio and I’ll show you your strategy”. How much better it would be if the strategy drove the portfolio content so that you could “show me your strategy” and from it I could describe what projects I would find in your portfolio!

Keeping pace with the online race: As the Open University (OU) celebrates its 40th anniversary, it has become the UK’s largest university, teaching almost 200,000 students each year. Its immense success has, in recent years, been to a large degree based on its advanced ability in online technology development. So it was only natural that when the OU embarked on a project to review and refresh its in-house project and programme management methodology it wanted to support it by a ‘best in class’ online project management resource. Rather than reinvent the wheel they turned to partnering with CITI.

Navigating the hurdles surrounding the 2012 Olympics: With 2009 as the mid-point in staging the London 2012 Olympics, now is a good time to review how the complexity of such an initiative is being managed. What was described in 2005 as a project — and still thought of in those terms by many — has correctly become a mixture of portfolios, programmes and projects.

Jump-start your project: In a recessionary climate, effective project management is doubly important. Faced with a difficult environment, we can keep doing what we’ve always done, and hope that things turn out all right in the end. Or we can take active steps to become leaner, fitter, and better adapted to the challenges ahead.

Bridging the gap: Tackling Britain’s nuclear legacy is one of the most important and demanding managerial, technical, commercial and environmental challenges facing the UK over the next century. In this issue Magnox South Ltd, a company owned by EnergySolutions, discuss how they are supporting their project management community to step up to this complex task.

Expand your skills: Our open courses provide Project, Programme, PPSO and Portfolio Managers access to our world renowned courses. Look to the back page for more information on our Professional Portfolio course, Project Leadership master class and our Managing Major Projects and Programmes MSc due to start in October.

Stop that project!: In an environment of retrenchment we are beginning to see much tighter controls on the approval of major spend projects. However, stopping those ‘waned’ projects which are addressing yesterday’s problems may be even more important than not starting those projects designed to address today’s. But which ones to stop and how do we ensure that they really are terminated? This article is an extract from CITI’s White Paper on stopping projects.

Find a clear approach: Projects need clarity of vision and rapid adaptive decision-making. Read the centre spread for a story on how a Local Government service delivery project required a clear route forward to succeed.

Your passport to greater success: Also in the centre spread, read about CITI’s Centre of Excellence (CofEe) Club plans for 2009 and upcoming events and exhibitions.

Take your learning beyond method: CITI’s open courses offer a range of development for the project and programme community, including the PPSO team. Our Spring courses featured in this issue offer courses for all members of the team and bookings via our website receive a 10% discount!

Spreading the word: Programmes, real programmes, that deliver new capability and whose success is measured in delivered change, are not only difficult, they are genuinely complex. This article explores why.

Building strong foundations: Building a foundation for Remploy to master change and develop its true potential was essential. See the centre spread for the outcomes of the recent modernisation programme successfully delivered by Remploy.

Project offices, programme offices: What’s the difference? They are substantial, yet to the untrained eye they appear subtle. This article uncovers the truth.

Conferences and events: see the back page for up and coming events including: the PPSO SIG, Project Challenge and PMI’s International Project Management Conference.

Stronger support: investing in sponsorship is essential for project success. Read our front page story for a thought provoking insight from David MacLeod, Principal Consultant, CITI.

Developing a tailored solution: with a large portfolio of business improvement initiatives in the pipeline, Severn Trent Laboratories (STL), the most comprehensive environmental testing company in the UK, quickly recognised the need to professionalise project management. Simon Marshall, STL’s Operations Director, discusses how this worked and what value ‘professionalisation’ has brought to their operations and people.

A complex issue: complexity equates to risk. How can you reduce project complexity, and thereby bring project risk within manageable limits? Geoff Vincent, Principal Consultant, CITI, shares his views on this problem.

Conferences and events: see the back page for up and coming events including: Best Practice Showcase, Centre for Excellence Club and the Best Practice User Group one-day workshop.

Making the right choice: It turns out that availability isn’t a project management competency – but what is? Based on a survey of 500 companies, this article discusses the options to recruit and retain your project managers.

On track for success: The launch of Eurostar services on High Speed 1 (HS1) marks the start of a new era in fast travel between the UK and mainland Europe. See the centre spread for details of how Eurostar achieved completion of this outstanding programme.

Choosing the right route: We all feel safest when following a proven path, so the creation and sponsorship of ‘maturity models’ by professional bodies seems to give us ‘legitimate’ external standards to judge against. But which model should we choose?

Building on our skills: Who is running projects in UK plc? CITI is funding a Research Fellow position at Middlesex University, the National Centre for Project Management. See the centre spread for more information on the research and how you can contribute!

Aiming higher: See the back page for up and coming events including: the Project Challenge spring show, the PPSO SIG forum and Unicom’s effective project and programme management event.

Molecular mission: DNA is rarely out of the news. DNA solves crimes that no other technique can touch, while promising even more dramatic advances in healthcare. Is there anything equivalent in the project world? This article uncovers the links between project DNA and how that impacts on success and failure.

Keeping the lights on: A power station that’s not working can be extremely costly! So an essential aspect of operating power stations is to carefully manage the times when a station is taken ‘offline’ and out of production, for scheduled maintenance and repair to take place. RWE npower discuss the benefits of using project management to keep the lights on!

Up and coming events: To keep you abreast of what is happening, we have enclosed with Bulletin information for three key industry events coming up over the next few months. We are running seminars on new and interesting topics at all of these events and hope to see you there!